GLAM/Newsletter/July 2025/Contents/WMF GLAM report
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Culture & Heritage team transitioning to broader Content Enablement team
Team transition
The Wikimedia Foundation’s Culture & Heritage team is now part of a larger team at the Foundation that facilitates volunteers’ contribution of content by securing access to source materials, supporting organizers, and collaborating on the development of high-impact contribution features. Recently, we published the final update to our team page on Meta, highlighting work we accomplished in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
As part of the Content Enablement team, we will facilitate volunteers’ contribution of content in three ways:
- Gather—Secure access to source materials and databases through partnerships with publishers, libraries, and media organizations. (Our flagship program is The Wikipedia Library.)
- Guide—Support organizers to meet their content goals by co-designing and disseminating more effective and rewarding processes. (Right now, we’re encouraging organizers to use the Event Registration tool.)
- Grow—Integrate community and partner requirements in the development of high-impact contribution features. (For example, it’s now possible for organizers to add their lists of priority articles to the Content Translation tool.)
Self organization of the GLAM-Wiki thematic network
This reframed team is more aligned with the Foundation’s fundamental role as a platform provider, enabling volunteers to freely share trustworthy encyclopedic content. It also comes at the right moment for the GLAM-Wiki thematic network, which is increasingly organized and able to identify its own capacities, opportunities, and needs.
In 2024-2025, we supported the organization of the GLAM Global meetup, a side event during Wikimania 2024. Since then, there have been monthly Global GLAM calls, with rotating hosts and time zones, aiming to encompass the entire world.
We have continued providing support for thematic conferences, but also launched a survey to decentralize the decision-making process away from the Wikimedia Foundation. Recently, a working group emerged to explore a GLAM Leadership & Organizational Structure Solution (GLOSS) and the Wikimedia and Libraries User Group expanded to nine members.
Our roots are in libraries and cultural heritage, and we love being part of this network, so we will continue to participate, listen, and learn, and make sure that your requirements are understood at the Wikimedia Foundation. We expect to dedicate up to 20% of our time to responsive support. For example, Silvia is collaborating with Gorana Gomirac, Angie Cervellera, and AKibombo to develop more global coordination and support for 1Lib1Ref (see the learning clinic on YouTube); Satdeep is connecting communities with partners to transcribe manuscripts and books on Wikisource; and Giovanna is supporting the Core Organizing Team for GLAM-Wiki 2025. We look forward to seeing many of you in Lisbon in October!
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